what do you do with your children all day every day?

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Louise - posted on 08/09/2010

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My daughter is 21 months and we get up to alsorts. I have spent a small fortune on craft stuff like ready mixed paints and glue and playdough and stencils. Every day during the week at about 10am we do some sort of craft activity whether this is hand painting or cut and stick and my daughter loves it. This activity lasts for about an hour and then she goes off and plays with her toys until lunch time. After lunch she has a sleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon she plays with snap cards, flash cards and books from the library and then plays by herself until tea time. The day really whizzes by you just need to be organised to keep kids interested and occupied.

I have a 2 yr old and a 10 month old. We go to playgroups, a different park nearly every day, go for walks, I have swimming lessons once a week with the little one while the older one is in daycare once a week. We read books, play games, paint, bake cakes, do puzzles. I also go to the gym for an hour 3 mornings a week where they have childminding facilities so they get plenty of interaction with other kids and adults. My oldest one loves to help me with the shopping, he collects items from my list and it keeps him entertained and learning. He also loves to kick a ball around

My son (just turned 12 months) wakes usually when my husband wakes (they co-sleep as hubby works all day, thats their bonding time) around 7. I make hubby's lunch and let our boy wake up and play with toys for a few mins. When hubby's lunch and brekky are made I change A, and feed him his milk. He has a string gag reflex still and can't have cereal until after his first nap. Sometimes I can feed him some fruit puree before but not often. We play and "walk" around the house until nap time (usually 10 am). Then I rock him in his stroller (big fancy combi stroller that lies down) and he naps there for about an hour, sometimes more. When he wakes he has cereal mixed with fruit (if he didn't eat it before) then we play and if I have to do something I put on his In The Night Garden... dvd (he only watches maybe 10 mins of the 28 min show) and then has lunch (usually pureed veggies or pureed veg and meat). He goes down for second nap between 2-3pm and sleeps from about an hour. Then gets a bottle and play until dinner, he has a full jar of stage one baby food (has to be pureed still) and some more fruit, play again until daddy gets home (around 7-7:30) He won't go to bed until daddy puts him down around 8:30-9 pm then sleeps till 7 am.

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Natalie - posted on 08/11/2010

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i have a 20 month and 4 month old...so we have swimming lessons and craft times like finger painting and paper mache. go visit the grandparents and play outside with the toys and have dances in our loungeroom with his toys and baby sister. we also cook he wears a little apron and likes the bowl and stirs it for me.

My son is 3 months old. We wake up in the morning around 8-9 then we eat and play on his play mat with things hanging. He does that for a while then I play with him. He takes a nap and we do it all over. I have to do different things with him cause he gets bored. We go to bed around 10.

During the school year. My 3 yr old daughter and I walk the older kids to the bus stop. She has breakfast and watches a show. I neaten the kitchen and have my breakfast. We do puzzles, play ball, read some books. I do more housework. On Wed we do Storytime at the Library. We have lunch and she watches her favorite show. I try to get her out to ride her scooter, bike or run around. We come in for a rest and snack before heading to the bus stop to pick up the other kids. She plays with them and depending on how I'm feeling I either do more housework or I sit and watch something I've DVR'd. Then its time to start dinner, dinnertime, clean up, baths, reading-I read to them and my other daughter does her reading. My son finishes his homework. Then its bedtime. Some days we go to the playground or take a walk thru the park, zoo, shopping, visit Grandma, playdoh, painting, coloring, or she uses the computer. She loves her Webkinz Jr and Nickjr.

We home-school so there is a lot of reading, math, and projects going on. II try to fit in housework where I can and when my eight year old is having free time I play with the baby. The baby sits in on a lot of lessons too, just in her high chair with lots of toys and board books

My kids are 11, 10, and 5. If its not insanely hot we go to Busch Gardens. Some days we go to the bech, playgrounds, or to a zoo. Most days are spent at home. My son hs Boy Scouts once a week and we have church. When school starts back, both my girls will be back in dance, so our days get pretty packed. Sitting at home is boring for my 5 yr old, but sometimes its just too much to deal with 2 grumpy kids and a very active 5 yr old!

My son is almost 2 and what I try to do with his is color, go to the park, I give him a pot and a spoon so he can pretend like he is cooking, play around with toys, i tought his hide and seek, read, teach him shapes, animals, sounds and watch tv.

Anything that will help me keep my sanity!! :)It really depends upon the day and most importantly the weather. My kids are 3 1/2 and 20 months and one on the way). We read books, build things, color, paint, playdough, play dress up or make-believe, watch cartoons or a movie. Outdoor play is walks, nature walks, gardening, sandbox, swing set, bubbles, trikes, swimming, etc. My oldest likes to help me a lot so she likes to help me clean, cook and bake. Both my kids are good at helping me with laundry. SOmetimes we'll go and visit a grandparent and we always have weekly errands to run, grocery shoppng, etc.

Sometimes we all just get really lazy and stay in pajamas and watch cartoons on cold rainy days or freezing cold snowy winter days.

We watch Sesame Street and eat our breakfast. Then we turn tv off and read books, plays games, and puzzles. Sometimes we cook, color, play with playdough. We spend time outdoors going for walks, splashing around in the pool, playing in the sandbox, or swinging. We also go out a lot and meet friends for playdates or do things on our own. My son loves storytime at the library, playing in the play area at the mall or Chick Fil A, and going to the park or local pool.

i try take my daughter to play groups but find it hard nw it the holidays i dnt rly want her to go in nursery yet cos i dnt work so dnt see the point even tho i think she wuld like playin with ohter kids i find it hard to find her things todo

my son is just turning 2 next week and has the attention span of a goldfish so I find it hard to get him to do activities with me because he just wants to run and do his own thing so thats what I let him do, he spends a tonne of time outside in the sandpit or cubby house and he loves riding his little bikes or he watches tv or at the moment he loves to "help" do everything so sometimes I put him to work but the novelty wears off pretty quickly lol.

My daughter is 3. She goes to kindy 3 days a few for a few hours. She goes to her swim lesson. We do our abc games. Read books, chores, dvd's, play pretend. Go to the park. The beach everyday during the summer. Visit friends

My kids are 3 and 2. Not old enough for a lot of crafts yet so it can be challenging. 3-4 times a week we go to a park/playdate in the morning after breakfast. We stay a couple hours then come home for lunch. My son will go down for a nap around 1 and my daughter (the 3 yr old) and I will play and paint or do something else that my son isn't old enough for yet. Once he wakes up they usually play by themselves and/or with daddy while I clean and get dinner ready.

Sometimes we have a playdate in the afternoon or will go somewhere after naptime since it's summer but that's a basic day. On the days we don't get out we read books and work on words and numbers and all of those basics along with just playing whatever they want. Sometimes dress up, sometimes trains. Sometimes they just want to play by themselves. Then the rest of the day is pretty much the same as mentioned above.

So, nothing set in stone but I try to keep them busy and engaged most of the day.

well my 5 year old is about to start school but as of right now my 5 and 3 year old do a lot of building and pretend while we are at home or we go to the park in the early morning. we have no schedule except for meal times.

My son is 5 yrs old. We have Taekwondo 3 days each week, swim at our pool, ride our bikes to the park. He also plays Baseball in the spring, but that is not in season right now.

For education, I teach him "preschool" everyday, where we do some fun worksheets and learn math, history & science. We read for an hour or so each day, and attend story times / book club at our local library and book stores--there are at least 2 a week, so I fit those on days we don't have Taekwondo.

He also helps me clean--usually wiping doors, molding, and base boards with water & a dab of soap in a squirt bottle, while I clean the same room. He helps me prepare dinner for when hubby gets home. He helps me sort, fold, and put away laundry (and he loves loading the washer & turning it on!) And of course we shop together.

He usually plays with blocks, Magnetix, or online games (PBSkids, Starfall.com) while I do the chores he cannot help with.

For extra fun and socialization, we have playdates with my friends and their children a few times a week so I can get some grown up conversation in and he has another kid to just play with (not doing sports).

My son is five months old, so we're limited in our activities for the moment, but here's how my day goes.

Around 8 or 9 am, Ryan wakes up and feeds. We'll play on my bed. He likes to stand up, so I let him stand on my body, and lift him, zoom him around making plane noises. Then I'll move him around a bit, from the swing to his bouncy chair, both of which play music. Around 11 am, he eats again and then it's nap time. He'll normally sleep for about an hour, which is when I do the dishes and laundry. He'll wake up and feed again. We play on the bed some more, and the chair and swing and have another feed. Somewhere between 2pm to 4pm he has another nap, for anywhere from one hour to two and a half hours. He likes to watch the computer screen and television with us, but I don't watch tv during the day. Sometimes we go to my mother in laws house instead, and in the afternoon he'll go for a swim with Grandpa before having a nap. Somewhere around 6 he'll have another feed, then solid food, then his bath, lotion, swaddle, bed (usually by 730, sometimes 830.)